Everyone talks when police fire the gun

Published 5:06 pm, Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Judge Robert Jacon charges the jury prior to opening statements in the Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy, N.Y. during Michael Mosley's murder trial May 9, 2011. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Judge Robert Jacon charges the jury prior to opening statements in the Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy, N.Y. during Michael Mosley's murder trial May 9, 2011. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

Everyone talks when police fire the gun

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Police and prosecutors agree that one roadblock above all others interferes with their ability to solve deadly shooting cases in Albany: People don't want to come forward. Nobody wants to be a "snitch."

Well, that is clearly not the case when the person firing the gun is an Albany police officer.

The unusual press conference that Chief Steven Krokoffstaged Friday said as much. He allowed community members to watch — and ask questions — at the briefing following the fatal shooting Thursday night of 19-year-old Nahcream Moore on South Pearl Street. Not only was the room at 200 Henry Johnson Blvd. jam-packed with members of the public, they were literally speaking over one another. Nobody could let Krokoff hear their words fast enough — including the woman who drove the car that carried Moore moments before he was shot.

Moments later, a clearly emotional Krokoff implored his audience to be reasonable.

"I am going to ask everybody in the room, out of respect, please, for our community — and it's our community — that you allow me the opportunity to find out the answers you're asking," said the chief. "We are part of this community also. We are not against you. We are with you. And we will continue to work with you ... It's time for us to start getting rid of the anger, start getting rid of the rage. And let's work together. ... I want this to be the last press conference I ever have regarding an individual that is shot by a police officer."

The anger Krokoff referenced was clear to see. As City Council President Carolyn McLaughlintried to quell the commotion, a woman yelled at her, "They're killing our kids, Carolyn! They're killing our kids! You've got to understand our anger!"

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If fear accompanied that anger, it surely did not keep residents from speaking publicly about it at a televised event.

When bullets not fired by police take the lives of young people in Albany, such anger rarely results in such a publicly expressed outcry as it did Friday.

Even after the fatal shooting of 10-year-old Kathina Thomasin West Hill in 2008, District Attorney David Soares' office had so much trouble getting witnesses to come forward and testify that he asked the new media not to report witnesses' names in open court.

The vast majority of the gun violence in Albany in recent years has been tied to street gangs — often involving teenage shooters. But when Mayor Jerry Jenningshad former Albany FBI head John Pikusas a candidate for police chief, a prime motivator of community resistance was that Pikus' agency led two racketeering investigations against the warring Jungle Junkies and Original Gangsta Killas — the two gangs blamed for most of the city's gun violence.

On Friday, people at Krokoff's press conference not only demanded answers, the driver of the car identified herself to television reporters and provided her version of events. Nobody called her a snitch.

Words to live by

In his six years as a Rensselaer County judge, Robert Jacon has sentenced a lot of people to prison but not before giving a lengthy lecture on the benefits of behaving and the consequences of not.

Jacon has scolded drunken drivers, drug dealers, thieves and killers. He's also offered words of encouragement to defendants who are trying to fix their lives.

Nothing though has compared to the stern rebukes doled out to five Troy High School students for beating two Catholic Central High teens at a drinking party last summer in Elmwood Cemetery. All five got probation and the possibility of youthful offender status that would seal their records.

The teens, many with their parents looking on, stood individually before Jacon at court appearances between October and December with heads bowed and hands clasped in front of them, enduring withering lectures. Sometimes they would look up, thinking Jacon was finished only to find out he was just getting started.

One teen was asked if he had quit smoking pot to which he answered "about a week ago."

"I want you to knock off this stuff,'' Jacon said raising his voice. "If you don't, I am going to put an ankle bracelet on you and it won't look like something you'll see in Vogue magazine."

Just as he thought he was about to be dismissed, the judge picked up a copy of the teen's high school report card.

"How in the world are you failing gym?" Jacon asked leaning over the bench and glaring at the student. "There is no reason for this, so knock it off. How do you expect to get good grades if you are not even there?"

One of the teens, a Troy High football star expected to lead the squad in 2011, was kicked off the team after his arrest. Jacon used that to get his attention.

"Are you playing football?" Jacon asked the student with a hint of sarcasm. "So what's it like sitting on the sidelines and just watching, all for doing something stupid like this? Don't let the crowd dictate what you are going to do. Take some responsibility for yourself."

Yet another student was urged to apologize to his alma mater.

''What has occurred has brought a great deal of bad publicity to your school," the judge said. "You owe them all a giant apology. They deserve better than this.''

That same student got into trouble at school just before his court appearance, and Jacon reminded him of the consequences.

"Straighten up and stop this stuff because if you don't, you will be going through that door, not that door," Jacon said pointing first to the door that leads to the holding cell for the jailbound and then to the court exit.

Some of the parents approached Jacon after court sessions and thanked him.